[BN] the know

Summer 'Dream'

There are few plays whose mere titles evoke an instant sense of reverie, even for the casual theatergoer. "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Shakespeare's light-as-air comedy about love and its attendant follies, is inarguably one. Taught in high school English classes and stiltingly performed in drama clubs across the country for generations, the play is as identifiable a piece of summer-soaked entertainment as anything Hollywood has ever dreamed up.

Shakespeare in Delaware Park's production of the play, a moonlit fantasy involving any number of might-be lovers and no shortage of mischievous fairies, opened Thursday and runs through Aug. 19. It stars Adriano Gatto as the fairy king Oberon, Morgan Chard as his fairy queen, Titania, who drinks a potion that makes her fall in love with one Nick Bottom (Jeffrey Coyle). Chad Fess plays the devious sprite Puck. Kyle LoConti directed the production, transporting the action to the British colony of Honduras during the 1920s and infusing the play with a slightly darker tone than some fans of the play might expect.